Maya's Journey
by CarrieKay
Summary: Maya is spiraling out of control, can a family tragedy bring her back? A prequel to "High School Ski Trip" from Maya's POV. NOT JOSHAYA, NOT LUCAYA.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Maya Hunter strolled up to Riley Matthew's apartment, aware that everyone was probably waiting on her. It was Junior Prom, and she could see the limo they were all taking parked outside the building. As she strolled inside, she saw Topanga taking pictures of Riley with Zay Babineaux, her date. They weren't a couple or anything. Riley had dated a few guys short term after her breakup with Lucas two years before, but since she was currently single and so was Zay, they were attending prom together as friends. Riley looked beautiful in a spaghetti strapped long purple gown, and the smile on her face seemed genuine, she looked as happy as she ever looked lately. Maya stood in the doorway and smiled to see her friend so happy. Something had changed in Riley since she and Lucas broke up, she was less goofy, less spontaneous, and she seemed to care less about everything. "Including my life" thought Maya bitterly. With Riley preoccupied and Maya's mom Katie blissful in her life with her new husband Shawn, it didn't seem like anyone cared much about Maya's life, at least not to her.

Riley finally noticed her and let out a yelp: "Maya, you're here, finally, we thought you weren't coming!" As Riley hurried across the room to hug her, Maya took in the concerned looks of Zay, Isadora, and Farkle (who had been standing to the side) and the disappointed looks of Topanga and Cory. It was Topanga who spoke first "Maya sweetheart, can you breathe in that dress?" The black floor length dress Maya was wearing was too tight, at least a size too small, accentuating the slit up the side of her thigh and causing her cleavage to overflow. "Of course Mrs. Matthews" Maya laughed, "I like this dress, it's below my knee and doesn't show my belly, so the school can't bitch". Topanga took a second to ignore the fact that Maya just casually cursed around her and plastered a fake smile across her face. "Ok then" she said cheerfully, "let's get a picture of you and Riley, and where is your date, I wanted to get a group picture". "Oh, Devon's not really a picture kind of guy" Maya responded, taking her spot next to Riley, "I'm sure he'll just meet us at the prom." From behind her, Farkle's eyes rolled at the name Devon, he couldn't stand the guy and thought he treated Maya like crap, but then Farkle didn't like any of Maya's boyfriends lately.

As Maya predicted, Devon was standing outside the hotel door when the group's limo arrived. Zay, trying to be cordial, stepped up to him with a hand extended and a smile on his face. "Devon, you could have ridden with us, we have more than enough room". Devon ignored the hand and stared down at the limo "yeah maybe on the way back man, I wasn't interested in hanging out at my history teacher's house before prom." "You didn't miss anything" Maya said before giving him a long kiss, "just the usual take pictures and be judged for your wardrobe fiasco". Everyone else in the group winced before Farkle took over, "well are we ready for the prom?" he asked, taking Isadora's hand and leading them inside. Maya hung back a bit, she had smelled the Jack Daniels on Devon's breath when she kissed him. "So you had a little pre-prom cocktail huh" she whispered as they entered the hotel, "did you save any for me?" "Of course", Devon replied putting his arm around her, "you know I'd take care of you baby, once the limo driver takes a break why don't you show me the inside of that sweet ride and we'll have some fun." "Sounds good" Maya smiled up at him.

About an hour into the prom Devon showed up at Maya's side and whispered into her ear "come on beautiful, the driver is gone and the back of the limo is open, let's go". He and Maya slipped out of the prom avoiding the chaperones and headed to the back of the car. As soon as they were inside, Devon produced a flask he had hidden in his coat pocket and took a long drink before handing it to Maya. As soon as she gulped down the liquor, he leaned in to kiss her. They began to make out, Devon's tongue invading her mouth while his hand found the slit in her skirt and began to follow its way up. Once his hand reached her thigh Maya casually moved it back down, only for Devon to continue moving his hand up. Maya broke the kiss to joke "What, you think I'm going to be that easy just because you brought me a drink, we've only been dating a few weeks." Devon looked confused and angry, "Baby, its prom, why are you fighting me, is this because I didn't spring for a fancy hotel room or something, it's not like you're a virgin." Maya was saddened by that statement, she may be in trouble a lot, but she was still a virgin, not that anyone would believe that. One of her former boyfriends had spread graphic and untrue stories about their sex life, and everyone had believed him, pretty soon the whole school thought that Maya Hunter had more notches on her bed post than C's on her report card.

Maya focused her attention back on Devon. "Yeah screw you, I'm going back inside". As she turned to leave Devon grabbed her arm "the hell you are bitch, why do you think I brought you to prom. I spent all that money on the tickets and you show up dressed like that, you can't just tease me and walk away, you owe me". His voice was hard and brittle and his grip on Maya's arm hurt, but it was the anger in his eyes that scared her the most. "If you don't want sex at least you are going to get me off" he continued, grabbing Maya by the hair and forcing her down to his crotch with one hand, while his other hand worked to undo his zipper. Maya had grabbed Devon's knees and was fighting to stay upright, but he was 6 foot 5 and built like a brick, she couldn't win this battle of wills. Suddenly Devon grabbed her by the chin and the side of her neck and stared coldly at her. "You better do me really good too baby, you bite me, you'll regret it."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

With Devon focused on her face, Maya finally found the opportunity she needed. She brought her knee up to swiftly hit him in the groin, then slapped him as he bent over his bruised balls before hurrying out of the limo. "I gotta get out of here" repeated itself through her head like a mantra. She started to head away from the hotel to the subway, then realized Riley and the rest of their friends would be looking for her if she disappeared. Quickly, she headed into the ballroom to find Riley and let her know she was leaving.

Riley was hanging out with Zay near the dessert table, a smile on her face as they took a break from dancing. "Maya, there you are, where have you been?" she asked happily. "Hey Riles" Maya responded breathlessly, "I'm kind of over the prom, I'm gonna go". Riley's face turned concerned, "you can't leave now Maya, we are all leaving together in the limo in a couple of hours." Zay, who was standing to the side, noticed the marks on Maya's chin and neck and put two and two together. "Yeah honey nugget you can't leave now, I haven't gotten a chance to dance with you yet, Riley do you mind?" Riley shook her head no as Zay dragged Maya out to the dance floor as a slow song began. Keeping a respective distance, he took Maya in his arms, his characteristic smile lighting up his face. Zay spoke softly so no other dancing couples could hear "ok Maya, Riley is having a really good time and we don't want to upset her, so we are going to just keep smiling". Zay's voice dropped an octave while his smile stayed plastered to his face "now what did that fucker do to you?"

Maya jerked backward, almost as shocked that Zay had cursed as that he had figured out what happened. Trying to blow it off, she let out a little laugh, "I don't know what you are talking about Zay, prom is dumb, I'm just ready to go." Zay reached up and gently brushed the marks Devon's fingers had left on Maya's chin and neck "Uh-huh sugar, you want to try that again? Did he…" Zay left the sentence unfinished, waiting for Maya's reaction. She looked down, sighed, and answered, "no Zay, he didn't. He tried, but I kneed him in the groin. He's probably still in the limo, nursing his drink and his balls. That's why I have to go, I can't see him again." "Ok then" Zay said decidedly, "let's go get security to get him out, none of us will be sorry to be rid of him". Zay started to walk away but Maya pulled him back "no Zay, I don't want anyone else to know, I already know what security is going to say, I know I shouldn't be dressed like this, that I shouldn't have been alone with him, I can do without the slut shaming." Zay regarded her for a minute, his warm brown eyes sad "you are probably worried about getting in trouble too, right?" Maya's eyes flashed angry "exactly, he attacks me and I get in trouble, what kind of horseshit is that!" Zay paused a minute before answering "I meant your breath Maya, I can smell the booze on you too." Maya looked down a minute before nodding.

Continuing to dance, Zay came to a decision "well sugar, you are staying at prom with us and then going home with us in the limo, and that douchebag certainly isn't. If you won't let me tell security, I'll just drag him out". Maya laughed at that. "That's very sweet Zay, but he'll kill you, even half-drunk and injured he's like a foot taller than you." "Ok, Ok" Zay replied, "then I'll get some help". He looked around the room and saw Farkle, giving him a head nod. Maya saw the direction Zay was looking and pulled his face back to look at her. "Absolutely not Zay, don't even think about it, I won't let Farkle get hurt". "Fine sugar, then Farkle and I will find some help." Zay continued to look around the room before zeroing in on Lucas Friar dancing with his date. When Maya saw what Zay was thinking, she quickly protested "not Ranger Rick Zay, we're not even friends anymore. He doesn't need to know my business, and even if he did, he wouldn't help me." Zay kissed her hand as the song ended "go over and get some dessert with Riley and maybe a breath mint Maya, I promise I won't tell Lucas what happened, I'll just say your date got drunk and won't leave. And if you think Lucas won't help, you never really knew him."

Maya wanted to continue to protest but Zay was already off, grabbing Farkle and whispering in his ear that Maya's date had to go, which Farkle was more than happy to participate with, and heading over to Lucas. Sighing, she headed to the dessert table to get some chocolate raspberry cake and a mint and to nod along half-listening as Riley gushed about how good the food was and how she was having a great time with Zay. She saw Zay and Farkle approach Lucas and interrupt his dance with a stunning blond and would have given anything to be able to hear this conversation.

Zay: "Hey man, can I borrow you a minute?" Lucas, a bit perturbed at being interrupted, gave his apologies to his date and stepped to the side with Zay and Farkle. "I was a little busy man, what's up?" he responded. "Maya's date is drunk in our limo and needs to leave; we were hoping you could help us out" Farkle chimed in. "Just tell security, he'll be thrown out for drinking" Lucas reasoned, starting to turn back to his date. Zay cut in front of him "man, please, Maya doesn't want anyone to know, just help us out, ok?" Both Lucas and Farkle could tell there was something Zay wasn't saying, but both wisely kept quiet as Lucas nodded, then the three men headed out to the parking lot. "There's our limo" Zay pointed out, noticing the driver was still missing, "where did the driver go?" "Out for food probably" Farkle replied "we aren't supposed to be leaving for another couple of hours". Lucas opened the back door of the limo and an even drunker Devon fell half out of the car. "Ok dude, time to go" Lucas said as he started to haul Devon up. Devon fought him, he had 5 inches on Lucas and a nasty disposition. "I'll go when I'm damn well ready" he responded, leaning against the car. "Why are you even involved Friar? Did that little bitch ask you to come save her? Don't think she's going to give you anything for it, she's nothing but a tease." Without even thinking, Lucas' right hand slammed against Devon's face, hitting him twice more as he went to his knees before Zay and Farkle could stop him. "Jesus fine Friar you can have her" Devon responded as he started to walk away, "but don't say I didn't warn you."

Lucas whirled back on Zay and Farkle "you want to tell me what that was all about, because I don't think you wanted him to leave just because he was drunk?" Farkle looked at Zay interested in the answer as well, but Zay just shrugged "I can't tell you man, I'm sorry, but thank you." Lucas sighed before continuing "ok, if you don't need any more muscle tonight I'm going back to my date." He started to turn to leave before turning back. "Zay, I saw you came here with Riley, how is she?" Zay smiled, seeing the look in Lucas' eyes "she's ok man, tonight, she's happy." "Good" Lucas said quietly as he started to leave again "I want her to be happy."

Zay and Farkle made their way back to the ballroom and their dates. Maya had managed to sneak away from Riley and was standing in the doorway. Seeing her, Zay tilted his head at Farkle, who took the hint and headed inside to find Isadora. "Well?" Maya asked. "It's done" Zay replied, "and don't worry I didn't tell Farkle or Lucas, I just said Devon was drunk and needed to leave". "Thank you Zay" Maya gushed, giving him a hug. "You should really thank Lucas" Zay responded, "he got a couple of licks in when Devon mouthed off. Just do me a favor and don't go back to him." Maya laughed "don't worry Zay, I won't, pretty sure I will avoid men period for a while." The two headed back into the hotel to find Riley and enjoy the rest of prom.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Four days later, Katy and Shawn Hunter waited anxiously at the doctor's office when a nurse came in smiling. "Congratulations" she beamed, "you are definitely pregnant. Six weeks based on your last period, but we'll be able to set the date better once we do an ultrasound. Right now we will set your due date for January 20th. The next step is an internal exam, which Mrs. Hunter might be more comfortable having alone." Katy nodded her head vigorously while the nurse led Shawn out. "Don't worry Mr. Hunter, we will come get you for the ultrasound." After Katy's exam, which showed no issues, the nurse brought Shawn in and at the same time an ultrasound tech came with a transvaginal ultrasound machine. "Ok" said the tech "let's find the little peanut." The tech moved the wand until she found the fetus, then switched on the volume. Shawn gaped in wonder as the tech manipulated the wand. "Hm", she said "can't quite get a heartbeat yet, but it might be just a little early. We'll set up an appointment in two weeks for another ultrasound." Katie got dressed and made the appointment, then she and Shawn headed to the subway for the trip home. "So when do you want to tell Maya or Cory or anyone else" Shawn asked anxiously as they sat together on the subway. "Let's wait until we get the heartbeat confirmed first" Katy responded taking his hand, "I know you are really excited, but it's just too soon to be telling people."

The following week Shawn was packing for an assignment in upstate New York, while trying to justify to Katy why he shouldn't go. "I'll be in the middle of nowhere" he reasoned "you won't be able to get ahold of me." Katy sighed, then smiled. "Shawn, I've got 33 weeks to go and I won't break, you need to work, I like this apartment and we need your paycheck." Shawn nodded unconvinced then continued to pack since he was leaving the next morning, the Friday before Memorial Day. A couple of hours after Shawn left, Katy noticed a slight spotting of blood. Concerned, she called the nurse who reassured her that it was very normal, just to contact the doctor or go to the emergency room if the bleeding got worse. Reassured, Katie continued with her weekend, which included the Matthews' roof top party on Saturday.

Maya and Katy arrived at the party, where Maya gravitated over to Riley, Zay, Farkle, and Isadora while Katy went to find Topanga. Breaking from her friends for a moment, Maya overheard her mom talking to Cory and Topanga. "I don't know what to do" Katy said, "she failed history and got a D in geometry. She's signed up for summer school for both classes but she refuses to go." Maya instantly saw red, she hated when people talked about her behind her back. Grabbing her jacket, Maya rushed out of the party only to bump into Josh and an attractive brunette coming in. "Maya, good to see you" Josh said happily as he gave her a quick hug, "I want to introduce you to my girlfriend Andrea." Maya looked her up and down with narrowed eyes "so you are the new pretty bimbo" she answered. Josh was shocked and rushed to defend his girlfriend, "Andrea is not a bimbo Maya, she is pre-law and has a 4.0, why are you being so rude?" "Whatever" Maya replied before brushing past him and heading downstairs.

Maya found herself walking through her childhood park, ignoring the numerous texts and calls from her mom and friends. She knew everyone was worried, but by the fifth call from her mom she finally turned off the cell to be alone. She knew her mom was pissed that she left the party without saying goodbye and her friends were worried, but she was nowhere near her curfew so her mom would relax as soon as she got home and her friends would forgive her tomorrow, no one ever seemed to understand when she just needed space or how much she hated being considered "a problem". Finally around 10 Maya headed for her apartment, only to find it empty. "Mom can't possibly be looking for me, I've been out plenty of times alone without her panicking and my curfew isn't for another hour, maybe she's still at the party." After waiting for a few minutes, Maya finally decided to turn her phone back on, only to find 6 messages from Katy. "Jeez mom relax" Maya thought as she started to listen to the messages. Her eyes grew wide as she reached the last one. "Maya, I hope you get this" Katy's voice intoned, "I can't get ahold of Shawn, and I am heading for University Hospital." Maya grabbed her jacket and rushed out the door to the hospital.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Maya arrived in the emergency admitting area of University Hospital and ran to the first desk she saw. Out of breath she huffed "Katy Heart, I mean Katy Hunter, she's here, where is she". As the nurse tried to calm her down and get some information, Shawn appeared behind her. "Maya, she is here, I got here about 15 minutes ago, I am just waiting on a nurse to come get us." Maya whirled on Shawn "why is she here, what happened to her, where were you?" Shawn looked hurt and took a deep breath before replying "I don't know why she's here; the nurse will tell us; they did tell me she is stable though so that is all that matters. I was in the Catskills with very little cell service, where were you?" Maya looked devastated and tears began to fill her eyes. "Where was I?" she repeated 3 times before collapsing into tears and Shawn's arms. As Shawn held her and tried to soothe her, a nurse came out and found them. "Mr. Hunter, you can see your wife now, please come with me." Maya and Shawn followed her, Maya trying to control herself while Shawn pestered the nurse with questions, all of which the nurse deflected and told them a doctor would explain everything shortly. They found Katy sleeping in a private room in OR recovery. Breaking away from Shawn, Maya went over to her mother and looked her up and down before noticing something odd, "there's blood on her sock, why is there blood on her sock" she asked the room in general. Katy began to stir slowly as the doctor arrived. Seeing Shawn and Maya's faces, she hurried to reassure them "Mrs. Hunter is ok, she had an early term miscarriage. Unfortunately, it didn't complete on its own and we had to surgically remove some fetal tissue because it was causing massive bleeding. She will be fine now; she is just slow to come out of the anesthesia." Maya looked from the doctor to Shawn in confusion. "Miscarriage, she wasn't pregnant!" At those words Shawn sank into the only chair in the room and covered his face. Realization dawned on Maya "she was pregnant, I just didn't know about it." Shawn looked up with tears in his eyes, "she was only seven weeks and they hadn't found a heartbeat yet, Katy wanted to wait until they did before telling you, just in case"…here he looked at his wife lying on the bed and broke down completely.

Suddenly Katy's broken voice cut through the grief. "Maya?" she whispered dryly. "Mommy" Maya exclaimed and threw herself on Katy, who still had her eyes closed. Slowly she began to move her arms, trying to hold Maya. "Baby its ok" she said slowly, the drugs still clouding her brain, "I'm going to be ok. We need to try to call Shawn." Shawn quickly got up to stand on his wife's other side and take her hand "I'm here baby, I'm right here." As Katy opened her eyes and began to focus, the doctor explained what to expect the next few days "she will be in quite a bit of pain, I have prescribed her a painkiller, don't let her take more than the recommended dosage. It will probably make her loopy so Mrs. Hunter shouldn't be alone, and absolutely no driving". As Shawn nodded in agreement with the instructions the doctor turned to Katy. "Katy" she stated clearly "you are going to be ok, but you will want to set up a follow up appointment with your OBGYN." The doctor turned to Shawn for confirmation that he understood this, since Katy would probably not remember much of what was being currently said. "Once Mrs. Hunter is fully awake you can take her home; her prescription will be with the discharge papers."

Katy slept most of the rest of the day and was loopy from the painkillers on Memorial Day. On Tuesday, Shawn sent Maya to school to get her out of the house and back to her routine. Katy refused to take any more painkillers because of how unclear they made her, so the two spent the day talking and crying. Katy blamed herself for losing Shawn's baby, she knew it wasn't rational, but she and Shawn had been married for 2 years now and this was the first time they had gotten pregnant. Katy knew Shawn loved Maya but wanted a child of his own as well. Shawn spent his time reassuring her, he had done some reading while she slept and understood how many pregnancies ended early and how Katy did nothing to cause the loss. They had both composed themselves and were lying on the couch together when Maya got home from school. Maya came over to give her mother a kiss, something she hadn't done in a while "Hi, mom, you look better." "I feel a little better baby thank you" Katy responded warmly, then turned to Shawn, "Shawn can you go get some groceries if I make a list, we are out of food." Shawn didn't want to leave but Katy insisted, "don't worry Maya is here with me and we need to eat, right baby?" she asked turning towards Maya. Maya nodded, a new seriousness on her face, as she sat down in the chair near her parents "I'll make sure mom is ok Shawn, go."

After Shawn left Katy turned on the tv and started to flip through channels for something they would both want to watch. Seeing her mom still looking so pale and in pain, Maya suddenly broke into tears. Katy, alarmed, sat up to grab Maya's hands and lead her gently on the couch beside her. "This is my fault" Maya sobbed, "if I hadn't left you at the party like that this never would have happened." "No baby no" Katy replied smoothing Maya's hair, "the miscarriage had already started, there was nothing you did or could do to stop it, a lot of women lose their babies early, it just happens." "But you were alone" Maya blubbered, "you shouldn't have been alone, I should have been with you." She sat up to look her mother in the eye "I'm going to do better, no more running away, and I'll go to summer school, I promise". Katy smiled for the first time in days and held Maya as she finished crying, sitting together on the couch until Shawn came back with the groceries.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**I know, 8 months is way too long to wait for an update. Thank you very much to brandledsen for requesting this update!**

The following week was the final week of school. On Thursday, Maya parked herself in her desk while everyone else left her history class. "How are you doing Maya?" Cory Matthews asked warmly. Shawn had told him what happened to Katy, but he knew from experience not to push Maya until she was ready. "Honestly, I'm a bit of a mess Mr. Matthews, but I want to try to fix that, can you help me?"

Cory walked around his desk and sat on top of it, now only a few feet away. "Maya, I will do anything to help you, you know that" he replied. The stress of the prior weekend caused tears to well up in Maya's eyes, she looked down to get control before responding. "I'm going to summer school, I actually want to go, to try to make up for the shitshow my life has been lately but I'm worried that it won't matter. What if I can't keep up?"

Cory looked down to catch her eye, wisely choosing to ignore the profanity and focus on the intention of her response. "Maya, you are one of the smartest people I know, you always have been. Which is why it's so heartbreaking to see you not apply yourself. I'll be teaching your history class next week. I don't have much else to do this summer, why don't you come over in the afternoons. You can hang out with Riley and we can discuss any questions you have. As Maya began nodding, a thought came to her, "but what about geometry?" she asked. Cory began to laugh, "I can't help you there Maya, but Riley is pretty good at Geometry, maybe she can help."

The rest of the summer Maya attended classes in the morning, never missing a day. Riley was working in the bakery on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, so Maya went over to the Matthews house on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. She struggled at first since she had gotten out of the study habit, but by the time she finished the first session of summer school her history grade was an A-. Geometry was even easier, once Riley showed her that it's all about shapes and how they relate to each other, Maya breezed through it, finishing the class with an A. Maya changed in other ways that summer too. Instead of disappearing every day (and many nights) she stuck around home a lot when she wasn't with Riley. At first she hovered over Katy, asking if she was ok several times a day, until Katy finally begged her to relax. Maya only got 3 weeks off before it was time to go back to school for her senior year. This time, she was actually looking forward to it. She had Riley shared World History and lunch, and she was able to snag painting, pottery, and design as her electives, so she could spend almost half of her day creating.

"How's your first day going Riley" Maya asked as they met in their 4th period history class. "Good so far" Riley replied, "I'm a little nervous about dual enrollment after lunch, I'm not sure I'm ready for college level classes". "Please you'll coast through…" Maya started to reply, then stopped as a boy she definitely never met walked into their class. "Who is that"? she asked breathlessly, taking in the new kid's blond hair and stoplight green eyes. "Oh that's Andrew something" Riley replied, "he was in my first period, just moved here, cute huh?" "Uh-huh" Maya answered watching as Andrew chose a seat towards the back. Gulping she turned back to Riley "what were we talking about"? As Riley started to laugh to see Maya so smitten, Cory entered the room to begin the lesson and the two girls took their places.

The end of the first week Riley entered history to see Maya staring back at Andrew, who was writing in a journal. "Maya, for heaven's sake, go talk to him. You can talk to anyone, just go introduce yourself". Maya looked up biting her lip. "I just can't. He's in Physics with you, he's always writing, what if he thinks I'm dumb? He just seems so different from the guys I'm usually interested in." "Well that settles it" Riley answered, "now you definitely need to meet him, come on". Riley grabbed Maya's hand and dragged her to the back. "Riley, what are you doing" Maya sputtered. "Taking your hand off a subway pole" Riley replied, stopping at Andrew's desk . Andrew smiled up at the two girls, quickly closing his journal.

Seeing Maya wasn't about to speak, Riley took the lead. "Andrew hi, Riley Matthews." "I know" Andrew replied, "you're in my physics class, how is it going so far?" "Good, good, you know, its just the first week, nothing too crazy so far" Riley answered then glanced at Maya. "Listen, I know you are new here" Riley continued, "my friend Maya and I were wondering if you would like to join us for lunch"? Maya turned to Riley incredulous. Andrew smiled at the expression on her face. "Thank you very much ladies" he replied, "but I have a creative writing seminar at NYU this afternoon, I don't really have time for lunch. I assume you're Maya, nice to meet you". "Yeah, you too" Maya stammered. Cory had arrived by then and was clearing his throat to get their attention, so Riley grabbed Maya and pulled her back to class.

"Idiot, idiot, I am an idiot!" Maya cried out at lunch. "Why did you do that to me Riley, pulling me over to him like that. Then I can't even get a word out of my mouth, not to mention stumbling over my own feet on the way back to my desk. Why did you do that?" Riley sat amused and waited until Maya was done fuming. "Geez Maya I've never seen you speechless, what is up with you?" Maya sighed and cooled down a little. "Riley, Andrew is gorgeous, he's smart, he's taking a seminar at NYU for Christ's sake. He's so different than the guys I normally date, why would he be interested in me?" Riley took Maya's hand and held her eye. "Maya, you are gorgeous, and smart, and he'd be a fool not to be interested in you. Also, we all hate the guys you normally date, so that's a definite plus". The girls broke down in laughter and continued their lunch.


End file.
